The Darkness
by Prima-Axis
Summary: After the collapse of BEGA, Boris has developed another plan to control the power of bitbeasts. This time he has found a few unsuspecting victims, including Kai, to wield the fearsome dark bitbeasts. Once again it falls to Tala, Bryan and Spencer to save those being manipulated by Boris and rescue Kai before they lose him to the corruption of Black-Dranzer.
1. Chapter 1

Dark clouds had gathered in the sky, and hung like a thick depression over the little forest. Tala sent forth his familiar, Wolborg, once again in the hopes of regaining victory and his lost friend. A sort of obsessive blind numbness had settled over Kai, the way it had once before when he had put his Grandfather's project, Black-Dranzer, to use. Tala realised that unless he was beaten, unless his link to Black-Dranzer was severed, there would be no saving Kai. A surge of blue fire answered the rush of Wolborg, who narrowly dodged. Behind Tala the trees caught and began to smoke once again, until he called upon a blizzard, the same way he had numerous times during this battle. The white wolf bore down on the black phoenix, understanding his master's will; despite the disadvantage, Wolborg would struggle on 'til neither he nor his master could continue.

Tala considered for a moment how things had always played out before; Kai would have the clear advantage, but Tala would twist it to become his friend's disadvantage. Sadly, his old tactics did not seem to be working against the dark type familiar, and he feared that he would soon be merely another obstacle overcome to the tainted Kai and Black-Dranzer.

"You've got nothing left to impress me, Tala; I've seen everything million times before" Kai's voice was cold, hard and even more aloof that it had ever been "You're stale and stagnated, you've got nothing more to show me and you're no longer worth my time; stand aside"

Tala chose not to respond, instead he put his effort into invoking his cyborg focus, a little gift from his former mentor, Boris; but it gave him an edge. He fed his strength into Wolborg hoping to build up just enough for one last fatal attack; maybe then he could destroy the foul project once and for all.

"Not going to answer me, Tala?" Kai asked, his tone one of harsh mocking "Could it be that you're using your cybernetic enhancements, no matter they won't help you here; let's finish this, Black-Dranzer!"

Tala braced for what he knew to be a devastating onslaught, but in the wake of his attack Kai would be vulnerable if Tala could hold out that long. A swirl of blue fire was builing around the Beyblade holding the dark twin of Dranzer; one of four sacred familiars; the heat was rising exponentially and melting Tala's ice. With a dramatic sweeping gesture, Kai unleashed his attack, and the swirl of blue flames engulfed its surroundings including Wolborg and the unsuspecting Tala. As the fire raged around him and consumed him, Tala's only thought was that he'd failed everyone, and then darkness took him.


	2. Chapter 2

It seemed like they were a world away from the origin of the blue flames, to a tired and injured Bryan and Spencer. They both longed for rest and relief of their injuries, but they both knew there were more important things than a little discomfort; one instance being to find their closest friend, Tala. The red-headed boy who Spencer had known since before he could remember, had gone ahead of them to catch up with their former team-mate, Kai. It seemed that once again Kai had put his own ambitions above the needs or wants of his closest friends; it was nothing unusual for him, but this time he had gone too far.

"This is just great." Bryan grumbled "Big trouble for everyone and Tala runs off without us; would have thought he'd learned his lesson after BEGA."

"Complaining about it, won't change a thing, Bryan" Spencer responded hobbling over the uneven terrain.

"I know, I know, it's just frustrating that's all; Tala is all the way over there somewhere trying to beat Kai, and we're straggling behind, not even able to give him any help."

"Well this is why we don't shoot off on our own." Spencer remarked.

"But don't you find this a little out of character; I mean, Tala is smarter than this one-man-army deal." Bryan continued, squeezing through a close crop of trees.

"Yeah, but smart enough to realise if he waits for us he might not catch up with Kai, and this might be our only chance; he's not going to miss that."

"Yeah well, I guess he's doing the right thing."

Spencer wasn't convinced that his friend had handled the situation in the best of ways, but he had to believe that Tala knew what he was doing, even if he and Bryan didn't. He grunted his agreement with his companion, and continued on his damaged leg. As he passed over more overgrown forest shrubbery he asked himself, why it was that no matter where they ran to, no matter how they tried to re-shape their lives, that the worst kind of trouble always found them. He was sure he'd never receive an answer to his questions, but still felt that he needed to feel like the question had been asked.

"I think we're pretty close now, Spencer." Bryan called from a little way ahead.

He was gesturing to the smoking crop of trees only a few hundred yards away.

"Right, let's try to pick up the pace a bit." Spencer called back.

"Why don't you let me, my legs are fine; take your time and don't cause yourself any unnecessary damage, okay?"

Before Spencer had been given a chance to respond, let alone argue, Bryan had sprinted on ahead; paying his injuries no mind and throwing caution to the wind. If Kai saw him, he might become the latest target as a way to make Tala falter. Spencer moved as fast as his injuries would permit but the discomfort had grown into an increasingly unbearable anguish.

"My god, Tala!" The panic in Bryan's voice reverberated through the forest to Spencer's location. Caring little about his own safety or comfort, he bolted towards the charred, blackened and smouldering trees and came to a halt beside the crouched form of Bryan. Spencer knelt beside his friend, who was not easily upset but there was something defeated about his posture. His sapphire blue eyes fell on Tala, his unconscious body laid on its side. Tala's usually pale complexion, whiter than fresh snow, marred only by charred, blackened wounds and crimson blood, that trickled across his skin and stained the icy patches on the forest floor as well as his titian hair. Spencer froze, unable to move or to make his own chaotic thoughts coherent. Bryan reached out to their closest companion, to attempt to assess the damage. He was methodical, as if he was separate from his own turbulent storm of emotions, although Spencer was fully aware that Bryan was not. The lingering silence caused Spencer to fear the worst; Tala might've cheated death before, but how many times could he tempt fate without it finally catching up to him?

"Is he...?" Spencer's words were merely a rasp.

Bryan shook his head, but didn't look away from Tala's fallen form.

"I don't know how much longer that will be the case for though; in short, to state the obvious, we need to get him out of here and quickly."

"Right." Spencer agreed.

"I'm going to carry him, you can't afford to put any extra weight on that leg."

Spencer opened his mouth to argue, but Bryan gently lifted Tala into his arms. He gestured to a fallen piece of branch.

"Use it like a crutch, okay?"

Spencer retrieved it and began following after his two friends. Bryan's arm was still an ugly mess from their encounter with Kai's henchmen, and despite the make-shift bandage, blood still seeped through; carrying Tala, who was by no means light and currently dead weight could only aggravate it, but Bryan didn't seem to care about such things. They climbed over the uneven forest floor in the direction they came from, retracing their steps and attempting to keep at a steady, but relatively quick pace. Neither of them spoke, but both monitored Tala's shallow breathing with a great deal of care. The fatigue from the long hike and the ache of the ailments was really setting in, but they refused to give up or even pause for rest; each merely reminded themselves that end was in sight and that there were bigger things at stake. When they finally drew closer to civilisation, they began to breathe a small sigh of relief; until a figure drew himself out of the shadows.


End file.
